Realty revival has textile cos foraying into real estate

Sachin Dave & Pradeep Pandey, ET BureauSep 14, 2009, 10.52am IST

MUMBAI: The revival of fortunes in the real estate sector is now seeing textile companies with huge land banks making a foray into the area of property development . To date, most of the textile firms sold their land to developers. That is now making way for a different model where these firms would set up real estate companies.

Among the names are Bombay Dyeing, Golden Tobacco and Century Textiles. There has been a precedent with groups like Tata, Mahindra and Godrej having turned developers. The Tata group has Tata Housing and Tata Realty while Mahindra's venture is called Mahindra Lifespace Developers. Godrej's venture goes by the name of Godrej Properties.

A prominent case is that of Bombay Dyeing, a wellknown player in the textile business. While it has entered the real estate business, it does not have a separate company in place.

Nusli Wadia, Bombay Dyeing's Chairman, at the most recent annual general meeting (AGM) said the progress on the real estate business was encouraging. Later, he told ET," "We have a land bank of 64 acre in Mumbai and we will develop this in a phased manner. The plan is to develop the land ourselves without involving a developer. We do not intend putting our land on the block."

Bombay Dyeing's property is situated in central Mumbai. Bombay Dyeing's spokesperson declined to comment on the possibility of floating a real estate company while an email sent remained unanswered. The real estate business for the company clocked revenues of over Rs 250 crore for FY09. Apartments have been developed in Worli and Lower Parel.